


take my hand (take my whole life too)

by BadIdeasMakeHilariousStories



Series: TLOU one-shots [1]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Protectiveness, me? writing fanfic even though i haven't actually played TLOU? it's more likely than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:41:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadIdeasMakeHilariousStories/pseuds/BadIdeasMakeHilariousStories
Summary: 5 times Dina got protective of Ellie, and the 1 time Ellie asked about it.





	take my hand (take my whole life too)

**Author's Note:**

> Me: let's just write a fluffy little one-shot, maybe 3,000 words at most.  
Also me: produces 12,000 words of angst with the occasional bit of fluff

1\. 

Dina knew the value of peace.

When the world was a clusterfuck of fear and violence and pain, the most valuable thing in the world was having a place to rest, relax, and recover. And Dina liked being able to provide that place for people. It’s why she enjoyed working in the makeshift infirmary in Jackson. She could really help people, give them a safe place to heal. She was proud of the work she did and she loved her job.

But fucking hell, she was ready to rip the peacefulness apart to get this random girl to stop hanging all over Ellie.

It had started as soon as Ellie got back from patrol earlier that morning. She had come to the infirmary, not to get treated, but to check in on Dina, like the absolute sweetheart of a girlfriend that she was. But as soon as Dina noticed the cut on her arm, she insisted that Ellie should stay and that as soon as she was done helping the other patients, she would patch her up.

But evidently Dina should have asked Ellie to wait at home, because this absolutely ridiculous new nurse was sitting too close to her, and laughing too loudly at her dumb jokes, and putting a hand on her arm way too much. And sure, she was new around here, and she was their age, and she may not know that Ellie was taken, but it was still infuriating.

Dina gritted her teeth as she walked by, trying her best not to listen to the nurse’s comments. She instead looked around for the supplies she needed, trusting Ellie to handle herself.

“Oh, poor baby,” the nurse drawled, tracing a finger up Ellie’s arm. “All injured like this, and no one to take care of you? What a shame.”

“Well, actually, Dina said- hey, Dina! You got more patients to take care of, or can we go?” Ellie called out, visibly brightening at the sight of her girlfriend. 

Dina grimaced, hating the fact that she had to disappoint her. “Sorry, Freckles, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit longer for my truly stellar medical skills,” she replied. “Busy day.”

“Oh, ok. Don’t work too hard, alright? Don’t want you falling asleep while stitching me up again.”

“For the last time, I was just resting my eyes. Would you rather I had been unfocused at the time?”

“I suppose not,” Ellie grinned. Dina melted at the sight of the wide smile that seemed reserved for her. “Don’t keep me waiting forever. I’m an impatient soul.”

“Who could have guessed?” Dina tossed back over her shoulder.

“You know, you should get that arm fixed up as soon as possible. And I just so happen to be free right now, so if Dina takes too long, I could take a look,” the nurse suggested. Dina could almost feel the smoke coming out of her own ears like in those cartoon movies they occasionally found to play for the kids.

“Oh, uh, thanks for the offer, but I’d hate to inconvenience you.” Ellie rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Dina hated the way the nurse’s eyes tracked the movement.

“It would be absolutely no trouble at all.”

“Oh, um, that’s great, but Dina would probably prefer to do it herself. She’s done it before, knows how to handle it best.”

“Mmm, I suppose so. But is there anything so wrong with letting someone new learn how? To handle you, I mean?” The nurse was leaning closer, speaking in a sultry tone. Dina turned around swiftly, looking at the cart of supplies, knowing that if she kept watching then she would have to admit the nurse into the infirmary for the injuries she would give her.

Who was this girl anyway? She could be a threat. Why was Ellie letting her get this close? What if she was dangerous somehow?

“Miss Rogers?” Maria stepped out into the room, looking around until her eyes settled on the nurse. “You’re needed in room seven. And Dina, you’re free for the rest of the day. Go get some rest.”

“Thank fucking god,” Dina sighed as the nurse scurried after Maria, pausing to take one last look at Ellie. “I swear if she does that-“

“If who does what?” Ellie asked. Dina startled slightly, having not noticed Ellie walk up to her.

“It’s nothing.”

“Since when do you say something that’s nothing?” Ellie quirked up an eyebrow.

“You’re absolutely right, everything I say is deeply important. I was going to say, if you fuck up your arm any more than you already have, then there will be no cuddles for you.”

“No cuddles? However would I survive?” Ellie muttered, loosely wrapping her arms around Dina’s waist and burying her face in her shoulder.

“I have no idea. I’m sure it would be awful.”

“Mmm.”

“Hey, are you ok?” Dina gently lifted Ellie’s head, cupping her face and looking her in the eyes. “Should I have treated you sooner? Is your arm hurting too much?”

“No, I’m all good. It’s barely a scratch.”

“Then what’s with all this?” Dina asked, glancing down at where Ellie’s arms were still around her. “You’re not usually like this unless something is wrong.”

“Wow, sorry for being affectionate,” Ellie teased.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Didn’t know you hated being seen with me,” Ellie laughed. “Would have just gone home.”

“And miss out on all this, Freckles?” Dina gestured to herself. “I don’t think so. Now come on, let’s get you fixed up.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ellie snickered, unwrapping her arms from around Dina and letting her lead the way home.

——————————————————————————————

2\. 

Maybe it just wasn’t obvious enough that Ellie and Dina were dating. 

Because every time Dina wasn’t with her, girls ended up surrounding Ellie.

And she wasn’t bitter, ok, she wasn’t. She had no issue with nearly every girl in Jackson throwing themselves at Ellie. They could do whatever they liked. 

Besides, it didn’t matter. Ellie chose her, and she chose Ellie. They were together, and Dina had no intentions of changing that. 

She was, however, about to change the fact that some girls had unbroken noses. 

“How’d you get so good at shooting like this?” One of the girls gathered around Ellie asked. The practice target range was hardly a fun place to hang out, but Ellie didn’t seem to notice that her presence had raised its popularity. Dina glared at the small group as she continued to clean the guns she was assigned to in the garage that had been somewhat renovated into an armory.

“Well, you know…” she responded awkwardly. “Had to get good to keep surviving out there.” Dina couldn’t help but smile at her inability to handle people. She could take out a horde of infected without breaking a sweat, but it was regular people the overwhelmed her. Ellie was too fucking cute.

“Wow, you’re so brave,” another girl out of the group said. “I couldn’t imagine that.”

“I mean, I had Joel, so, uh, it was easier than for other people.”

“Still, you must have been so strong, to do that,” the first one piped up.

“She’s still strong now,” a different girl said. There were about five of them, and it was hard enough to hear them, let alone identify them. “I mean, look at those arms.”

Dina simultaneously loved and hated when Ellie wore tank tops. It meant she could stare at Ellie’s arms, which was always a plus, but other people could too, like these girls were right now. Which was not exactly ideal.

“Er, well, training helps a lot, I guess-“

“Ellie, do you think you could show me how to shoot? I can aim just fine, but I feel like my form is off a bit.” One of the girls drawled.

Ellie, oblivious to the tone, perked up a bit. Shooting was something she knew, something she could handle. And it didn’t require a whole lot of talking.

Dina didn’t know why Ellie tried to stop herself from talking so much. She was ridiculously funny, in a snarky kind of way, and when she chose to be kind, she was good at it. But at the same time, she really didn’t mind that Ellie didn’t seem to want to talk to these girls very much.

“Ok. Could you get into a firing position for me? So I can see what the issue might be?”

“I can get into any position you want,” the girl replied in a sultry tone. 

Ellie somehow managed to miss the double meaning entirely. “Well, right now, just firing position. If there’s something else you’re worried about, I might be able to help, but a lot of this is instinct.”

“Right, sure.”

“Yeah… oh, ok, I see what’s wrong. You’re setting your shoulders all wrong.” Ellie put her hands on the girl’s shoulders and Dina saw red.

Not because she was angry at Ellie. No, she was angry at the way the other girls giggled and whispered as though this was some kind of spectacle. Angry at the way the other girl leaned back into Ellie’s touch, clearly enjoying it more than Ellie meant her to.

Dina was angry that these girls were taking advantage of Ellie’s obliviousness, ignoring her intentions in favor of shamelessly flirting with her, taking advantage of her willingness to help. And Dina wasn’t going to let it stand.

“Hey there, hot stuff, you teaching them some moves?” Dina called out as she finally exited the armory.

Ellie laughed, taking her hands off of the other girl and turning to face Dina. “Yeah, well, if they’re as bad at shooting as you, they’ll die on patrol within an hour.”

“I happen to be an excellent shot,” Dina replied haughtily. “You’re just the slightest bit better and you like having something to hold over my head.”

“I can hold anything over your head, I’m taller than you,” Ellie replied. The group of girls looked deflated, a few of them walking off altogether.

“By like, two inches!” Dina replied.

“Taller than you, a better shot than you, generally hotter than you…”

“Ok, well, we agree on two of those things.”

“Which two?”

“Well, despite the fact that I could absolutely demolish you, I will acknowledge your absurd height.” Dina smirked. She then trailed her fingers up Ellie’s tattooed forearm, delighting in the shivers it produced. “And you are definitely hotter than me.”

“L-liar,” Ellie stuttered, following Dina’s hand with her eyes, freezing up completely.

“Mmm, I don’t know, it seems like the truth to me,” Dina said lowly. She was so caught up in Ellie, she didn’t even notice the last girl leave with a huff. She squeezed Ellie’s bicep, outright giggling at the blush on Ellie’s face.

“You… I… what are you- I’m supposed to be training!” Ellie yelped. 

“Aw, no time for some fun?”

“Your definition of fun is my definition of trouble.”

“I suppose that’s fair. But, baby, don’t you want to get into some trouble with me?” Dina quirked an eyebrow, biting her lip.

Ellie groaned. “You’re banned from being near me while I’m trying to focus.”

“Are you trying to exile me for seducing you?”

“Yes!”

“That’s no fun,” Dina answered cheerfully.

“Yeah, well, you know what is fun? Teaching people who ask for help-“ Ellie finally turned around. “Huh. I guess they had other stuff to do.”

“Other girls to flirt with,” Dina muttered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Now come on, Freckles. I happen to know that the armory is empty and you know I can’t resist you with a gun,” Dina said as she grabbed Ellie’s hand and pulled her along, missing the adoring look on Ellie’s face behind her.

——————————————————————————————

3\. 

There was a first time for everything. Dina had heard that expression before, but she wasn’t sure she believed it. When was the first time that every infected dropped dead? When was the first time that a vaccine for the virus was invented? No, first times and momentous occasions were for the old world, where innovations and advancements were not only possible, but probable.

That being said, there was a first time for all the smaller things. The first time someone fights a clicker and wins. The first time they begin a community. The first time kids are born somewhere safe. Smaller, easier to achieve first moments. 

For example, the first time Ellie realized someone was flirting with her.

Dina wished she could have been there, but she only heard about it when the boy guilty of the crime was brought into the hospital.

“What happened to him?” Dina asked as she noted the cut on his forehead with bits of glass still stuck in it. He looked to be about their age, so maybe he got in a fight with Jesse or one of the others and it escalated. Although, that didn’t seem very likely.

“Your girlfriend happened,” Maria answered. “Shattered a bottle over his head in the lunch hall.”

“Wonder what he did,” Dina questioned. There was no way Ellie just attacked someone like that for no reason. For all her skills in fighting, she really wasn’t a great fan of confrontation when it could be avoided.

“Everyone who was there said he was just talking. None of them heard what he said, but apparently Ellie just lost it. Broke a bottle over his head, knocked him to the ground, and fucking ran. No one even saw where she went.”

“That doesn’t sound like Ellie. Does Joel know about it?”

“Went out after her as soon as I told him. Said he thought he might know where she’d go,” Maria responded as she continued to try and pick tiny glass pieces out of the unconscious boy’s head.

“And uh… did he happen to, you know. Mention where exactly that might be?” Dinas asked, trying and failing miserably to seem like she was asking purely out of curiosity. 

Maria sent her a look that clearly said she wasn’t fooled. “It’s outside of the wall, Dina, you’re not allowed out there.”

“Right, yes, of course, I knew that. But say I was allowed, would I find them nearby, or would they be further out-“

“If you were to go outside of the wall,” Maria began, “which is expressly forbidden, of course, I imagine you’d find them in the old ranch house near the dam. Although, there’d be no way to make it out there, even though the area is free of clickers. And John, who’s scheduled to keep watch over the gate today, is always five minutes late. And his shift would start in exactly seven minutes. And no one is watching over the horses right now. But still, I can’t imagine a way for you to get out.”

Dina stood frozen as Maria turned back to her task, wondering exactly what had just happened. 

It wasn’t until Maria looked at her again that she processed any of it. “Well? What are you waiting for? I imagine it’s time you get home for the day. To be clear, I am sending you home for the day. Meaning that I am not responsible for what you do with the rest of your time. I will not know what you do with the rest of your time.”

Dina blinked. Nodded her head once, then twice. And promptly ran out the door, not hearing Maria’s small chuckle behind her.

She waited for a few minutes once she got to the horses, mind racing. What had the boy done that made Ellie react like this? Had Joel already gotten to her? What in the ever-loving fuck was going on?

But most importantly, was Ellie ok?

Dina checked the watchtower. Sure enough, James was coming down, and John was nowhere in sight to take his shift. Dina took the opportunity, quietly coaxing her horse out of the gate and into the woods beyond it. She wasn’t quite sure where the ranch house was, but she had a rough idea, and after about ten minutes, she managed to spot the roof among the trees.

As she raced into the house, Dina listened as hard as she could for any signs of Joel or Ellie. When her hearing failed her, she called out. “Ellie? Ellie, are you here? Joel? Anyone?”  
“Shut up before you attract every clicker in the goddamn area.” Dina smiled as she heard Joel’s gruff voice coming from upstairs, running up to find them in a bedroom.

“Maria said this area was clear- oh, Ellie, baby, what’s wrong?”

Ellie gave her a watery smile. She was sitting on a window seat, with Joel kneeling beside her, and she had evidently been crying. 

“Would you believe it was allergies?”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Dina answered softly, kneeling next to Joel and taking one of Ellie’s hands in between her own. “Talk to me, Freckles. What happened?”

“Did you, uh. Did you hear about the guy in the lunch hall?”

Dina nodded. “I saw him when he got admitted into the hospital.”

“Fuck,” Ellie swore quietly. “I didn’t mean to hit him that hard, I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him like that, I just-“

“Ellie, hey. Take a breath, sweetheart. It’s ok, he’ll be just fine,” Dina soothed, stroking her thumb comfortingly across the back of Ellie’s hand.

“Shame,” Joel grunted. “I would like to hear there’d be at least some lastin’ damage.”

“Well, he might come away from it with a scar, if that helps,” Dina replied, not taking her eyes off Ellie. “But I’d like to know why?”

“Yeah,” Ellie breathed out shakily. “Yeah, right. Ok. So, a while ago, I… no, can’t do it, not happening.”

“Ellie, come on. I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want- promise me you won’t leave,” Ellie interrupted herself, looking at Dina.

“What?” Dina asked disbelievingly. “Why would I?”

“Just promise,” Ellie said, eyes shining with fresh tears.

“Ellie. You know I can’t promise that, right? I mean, if you say you just attacked that guy for no reason-“

“If you think that’s something she would do, then you have no business dating my daughter.” Joel made his presence known again with a growl. Dina lost her grip on Ellie as she turned to him.

“Of course I don’t think that’s something she’d do, I’m just establishing that I’m allowed to leave a relationship if I so choose!” Dina replied loudly. She didn’t notice Ellie flinch when she mentioned leaving a relationship.

“Of course you are, but if you’d like to try saying that again in a better tone-“

“Can I please not deal with my two favorite people fighting along with everything else?” Ellie pleaded, getting both Joel and Dina’s attention. “Can we just not?”

“Right. Sorry, Joel,” Dina said sheepishly.

“S’alright. Sorry too.”

“It’s all good.”

“Ok,” Ellie sighed. “Great, thank you.”

“Back on topic. Ellie, look; I can’t promise I won’t leave no matter what happens, but I promise I’ll hear you out. Is that a fair compromise?” Dina suggested, masking her fear. If Ellie thought this was something Dina would leave her over, what exactly was going on? And was it possible that she could be right?

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair.”

“Ok. Whenever you’re ready.”

Ellie laughed humorlessly. “Give me just a minute, I’ve never… Huh. I’ve never actually told anyone this story, now that I think about it.”

“Take your time,” Dina replied, gently taking hold of Ellie’s hand again.

“Ok. So, you know about Joel’s rebar injury, right? Fell off a balcony and managed to stab himself. And I took care of him while he was in rough shape.”

“Oh, sure, lead with me getting injured, happy to see that my dignity is being protected,” Joel grumbled.

“Yeah yeah, old man, you shouldn’t have gotten hurt if you wanted to never talk about it. Anyway, Joel was completely out of it, right? He could barely move. So I was the one out getting and getting water and all the things we needed. One day, I was out hunting and I got this buck, right? He was big and he’d keep us fed for a week. And I got so excited that I didn’t notice these guys coming up to me. They startled me, and I almost fucking shot them on sight. But they said they’d trade medicine for the buck, and I needed medicine for Joel. So I agreed.”

“Fuckers deserved to starve, shouldn’t have given them the damn deer,” Joel interjected.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that yet, and you needed medicine. So, one of them ran and got some penicillin and the other stayed with me. His name was.” Ellie paused. Dina watched as she wiped at her eyes. “His name was David. And he, uh. He was nice, I guess. Helped me fight a bunch of clickers, seemed decent enough. Told me I was a good fighter. But then he mentioned that some of his group was getting killed off by an older man and a little girl.”

“Shit,” Dina whispered.

“Yeah, shit. So I grabbed my gun and all, ready for a fight, and his buddy showed up again and was ready to kill me. But David stopped him. Told him to give me the medicine and let me go. And he did. I took the penicillin and ran, gave it to Joel. I thought that as long as I moved us out of there quick enough, we’d be ok. Next morning, though, there was a group just outside. They had tracked me, I guess. I fought as many as I could, did everything I could, but David got me, in the end, and-”

“Ellie, you can stop. You can stop,” Joel said gruffly. “You don’t have to keep going.”

“She should know, Joel.”

“She can live with the mystery.”

“Yeah, I can,” Dina said suddenly. “Ellie, it’s ok, I don’t need to know. I trust that you had a good reason for hitting the guy-“

“I want you to know,” Ellie replied simply. 

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. Ok. I did say I’d listen, didn’t I?”

“You did. So, I wake up in this cell after they capture me, right? And some guy was there and he was… he was chopping a guy up on a table in front of me. And the David came in, and said some bullshit about trying to keep me alive, and I broke his fucking finger.”

“Attagirl,” Dina murmured approvingly. Ellie laughed shakily.

“Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself. He left, then, but he came back with another guy and pulled me onto the table and I… I told him I was infected, then grabbed a knife, stabbed his buddy, and ran. And it’s the middle of a fucking blizzard, and I can’t see shit, and I’m just trying to avoid getting killed by David or his guys. And David is hunting me down with a machete like I’m some fucking rabbit he’s chasing. So I run into this restaurant, and David follows me, and I’m freaking out, trying to not die. Eventually, I see an opening, and I jump on him, managed to stab him. But he pulls me off and knocks us both out. I don’t know how long we were there, but I woke up just a few seconds before he did. I started going for his machete.” 

Ellie’s voice became more and more distant as she recounted the story, her eyes seemingly hollow. 

“He got up. Kicked me in the ribs a few times. And then he. He, uh. David, he-“

“Ellie, stop. Stop, this is done, this doesn’t matter anymore, you can stop.” Joel tried again.

“Joel, if I want to tell my fucking girlfriend about this, then I will,” Ellie shot back.

“You’re not ready.”

“Ready doesn’t matter, it’s my choice!” Ellie launched out of her seat, balling up her fists and glaring at Joel.

“Reliving this is only gonna hurt you, babygirl.”

“Yeah, and apparently keeping it to myself means I’m a danger to other people if they say the wrong fucking words, so forgive me if I want to make sure I don’t freak out and hurt someone I actually care about next time!”

“Ellie,” Dina said softly. “Ellie, you don’t think you’d actually really hurt anyone, do you? You barely even hurt the guy in the lunch hall. You couldn’t really hurt people if you tried, baby, you’re too kind for that-“

“I couldn’t hurt people?” Ellie rounded on Dina. “You actually believe that? Fine, go for it, act like I’m not some feral creature-“

“You’re not an animal, Ellie.“ Dina said forcefully.

“Then tell me why I fucking acted like one! If there’s not something deeply fucked up about me, Dina, explain how when David got on top of me and told me to fucking beg, I grabbed the machete and hit him in the face with it over and over and over again.” Ellie’s voice cracked and tears were streaming down her face now. Dina’s vision was blurred, and she dimly registered that she was crying too. “If I’m kind and good and not a fucking animal, explain why Joel had to pull me off of his fucking body, tell me why I tried to hurt Joel too! If I’m something more than a murderer, explain how all it took was one stupid fucking guy saying a stupid fucking thing to put me back there, with David weighing down on me and the machete just out of my grasp. Tell me- fucking tell me, explain-“

Ellie’s voice broke as she collapsed to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself and sobbing. 

“Christ,” Joel murmured, wiping at his face. Dina barely heard him, didn’t even turn to look at him as she sank to her knees beside Ellie and pulled the crying girl into her arms.

“Oh, Ellie,” she whispered, holding her close. Ellie shook her head, trying to push Dina away.

“I can’t- I don’t want to hurt you too-“

“You won’t,” Dina said firmly. “You won’t hurt me, Ellie. You wouldn’t.”

“I could, I could hurt-“

“Maybe you could, but you won’t. I know you, Freckles. I know you, and I trust you, and I love you. You hear me, Ellie? I love you. And I’m not leaving because you were forced to do an awful thing to survive. We’ve all had to do things we’re not proud of.”

“I was fucking brutal, Dina, I bashed his head in,” Ellie gasped out.

“Yeah. And do you think a cold-hearted murderer would feel this much remorse over it? Do you think some animalistic killer would be afraid of themselves afterwards? Do you think they’d push people away to keep them safe? No, they wouldn’t. Ellie, you were scared and hurting and he would have killed you. You did what you had to,” Dina responded. She cradled Ellie gently, pressing kisses to her forehead.

“Listen to your girlfriend, Ellie,” Joel said, coming to crouch beside them. “You’re not a bad person for what you did.”

“And what about breaking a bottle over that guy’s head?”

“What’d he say?” Dina questioned, realizing she had never asked.

“He said… it was just a stupid pick-up line, right, and if it was anything else I probably would’ve just laughed. But, uh, he said ’I bet you’d sound really good trying to beg for me.’”

“Bastard,” Dina said angrily. “I’m gonna tell Maria to leave some glass in him.”

“It just kind of put me back there, you know? In the restaurant. I know I overreacted,” Ellie rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Fuck, I’ve got to apologize.”

“You don’t have to do shit, babygirl. He’s lucky he only got a bottle to the face,” Joel replied. He tended to sound at least a little angry, even when he wasn’t, but there was absolutely no room in his tone for doubt right now.

“Oh, he’s going to get a lot worse than that when we get back. No one flirts with my Ellie and gets away with it,” Dina muttered.

“Are you seriously jealous over this?” Ellie raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not jealous! It’s more like protective. Assholes shouldn’t get to be anywhere near you, you should only be surrounded by good people.”

“But then you wouldn’t be near me,” Ellie deadpanned. Dina scoffed and shoved at her shoulder.

“Oh please, I happen to be an incredibly wonderful influence on your life.”

“Yeah, you are,” Ellie answered earnestly, taking Dina’s hand and kissing the back of it. “You’re the best influence, Dina.”

“Alright, this is too much for your old man,” Joel said, standing and walking to the door. “We should probably be heading back now anyway, it’s getting dark.”

“I think you just get tired earlier because you’re old.”

“I think your comic books are going to meet an untimely demise in a pile of horse shit.”

“Joel. Don’t even joke about that.”

——————————————————————————————

4\. 

After what Dina had dubbed The Bottle Incident in her mind, her and Ellie’s relationship shifted. It wasn’t bad, it was just a bit more cautious, like each of them was afraid of making the wrong move and startling the other. Dina found herself asking if Ellie was ok more often than necessary, and if Ellie picked up on it, she didn’t mention it. It was weird, but it felt like they were rebuilding something. Or maybe just fixing a crack or two? Dina wasn’t sure, but it felt like nervousness and cautiousness and hope all at once.

And along with their relationship, other things were changing. New people had arrived in Jackson, along with one not-so-new person.

Fucking Kat.

“So then, I had pretty much given up, right? I was stuck behind this car, a horde of clickers running straight at me, but if I moved, the sniper in the house down the block would get me. And I still needed to get to the kids, you know?”

“So what’d you do?” Ellie said, having on to every word of the story. Dina rolled her eyes. Kat was much too loud for the rec room they were hanging out in, and her voice echoed through the room.

Kat laughed. “I got in the fucking car. Turns out, it was in pretty good shape. So I drove through the horde of clickers and past the house the sniper was in, then got the kids out of the bunker and ran like hell.”

“Damn,” Ellie grinned. “You just stumbled into a working car? You lucky little shit.”

“Right? I couldn’t believe how close it was.”

“Crazy,” Dina tossed in.

“Yeah. Hey, Ellie, how’s the tattoo treating you?”

Ellie laughed a bit self-consciously. “Um, I’ve actually gotten a lot of compliments on my arms lately, it seems like your design is pretty popular.”

“Well, I’m sure the compliments to your arms have less to do with my artwork and more to do with what’s underneath it,” Kat said, winking at Ellie.

It took every last ounce of self-control in Dina to not throw a punch. Seriously, who did Kat think she was? She left Ellie, not the other way around. She had no right to be flirting with her like this. She couldn’t just mess around with Ellie like that.

“Speaking of tattoos, Kat, I was wondering; how did you manage to learn to do tattoos anyway?” Dina asked, pulling Kat’s attention away from the now blushing Ellie.

“Oh, well, funny story, it started with this guy I met in what used to be Memphis, down in Florida…”

Dina immediately tuned out the story, choosing to use the time to think back on better moments, moments when there was no ex-girlfriend to bother her and Ellie. Moments when she and Ellie were alone.

Like what had happened two nights ago. Joel had been out on patrol, and Dina had gone over to have dinner and spend the night with Ellie. Although, they got sidetracked about halfway through making dinner when Ellie pinned her to the counter with her hips and proceeded to kiss her until her lips were sore and she was breathless. And then they moved to the couch, and Dina really couldn’t think about what happened after that in public.

“And so, this girl says she’s really into it, and it’s too late to back out now, so there I am, about to tattoo a flower on some girl’s tits with no previous experience.”

“That’s the worst way to get laid that I’ve ever heard of,” Ellie said. “What if you had like, cut a vein or something?”

“Tattoo guns don’t go that deep. And we can’t all have a natural charm with the ladies,” Kat replied. “And as it turned out, I was a natural tattoo artist anyway, and she was very grateful.”

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“Grateful enough to-“

“I don’t want to hear the details!” Ellie exclaims, the tips of her ears turning red. 

“You used to be part of the details, El, do you really think you don’t know what I’m like?”

“Hey, I’ve got a shift at the hospital,” Dina interrupted. “In five minutes. I should get going.”

“Oh, I’ll walk you there,” Ellie said as she stood up to do just that. 

Dina stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “No, you should stay. Catch up with Kat, I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen each other. I’ll see you for dinner, yeah?”

“Sure, sounds great,” Ellie said, leaning down for a quick kiss. Dina smiled against her lips, hands coming to rest on her cheeks.

“By all means, continue, I’m really enjoying the show,” Kat piped up. Dina and Ellie broke apart, Ellie flipping Kat off with a sort of bashful smile on her face. Dina, less inclined to smile, simply glared at the other girl before walking off.

Dina could barely focus throughout her shift in the hospital. Luckily, she was there often enough that most of what she did was muscle memory, allowing her to go into autopilot and think about the situation she had just left.

Did Ellie know that Kat was flirting? She had a history of being oblivious, but it was painfully obvious. And Kat knew they were dating, so why was she even trying? Did she think she could get Ellie back? 

Could she get Ellie back? Dina shook her head. No, that wouldn’t happen. It hurt Ellie so much when Kat left her the first time, she wouldn’t do that to herself again. And she was loyal, incredibly so. She wouldn’t do that. 

Dina barely noticed the time passing as she worked, going from room to room, comforting, bandaging, and otherwise treating the people there.

She only realized how late it was getting when Maria poked her head in as she was finishing up some stitches on a man’s leg. “Dina? Hey, it’s already dark out, shouldn’t you be getting home?”

“Hmm? Oh, right, let me just finish this up and I’ll head out.”

“Sure. Oh, Ellie’s waiting for you in the front. Has been for a while, I told her to go home but she said she wanted to stay.”

“What? Ok, give me just a sec- you’re all done,” Dina informed the man sitting in front of her, rushing out the door before he even had the chance to thank her. She burst out of the hospital into the cool night air, looking for-

“Hey there, pretty girl. Shouldn’t be alone so late at night, you know.” Ellie was by the door, leaning up against the wall, smirking as she watched Dina catch her breath.

“Yeah, well, I’m hardly alone, am I?” Dina replied. “I’ve got my knight in shining armor to walk me home.”

“Hardly a knight in shining armor,” Ellie scoffed, but proceeded to grab Dina’s hand and start to walk anyway. “More of a slightly decent rogue.”

“Mm, you would look hot in a mask.”

Ellie grinned. “Yeah, well. I guess covering my face up would improve my looks a bit.”

“That is not what I meant and you know it!”

“I don’t know, Dina, I think you’re probably right-“

“No.” Dina stopped in her tracks and pulled Ellie closer to her. She cupped Ellie’s jaw in her hands, staring into her eyes. “This. Is. A. Beautiful. Face.” She punctuated each word with a kiss, on Ellie’s forehead, cheeks, nose, and finally her lips. “Don’t you dare cover it up.”

Dina leaned back to see Ellie smiling, eyes closed and blissful. Dina smiled too, taking the opportunity to admire her girlfriend. She let her eyes trail over Ellie’s face, admittedly pausing on her lips for longer than was necessary. But then, Ellie opened her eyes, and Dina quickly glanced away, a little bit embarrassed at being caught.

“You know, it’s weird that you think I’m pretty,” Ellie said as they began walking again.

“What? No it’s not, you are pretty.”

“No, I’m…” Elle paused to think. “Not pretty, for sure. Not ugly, but I’m not exactly pretty. I’m a little too much to be pretty, you know?” Ellie shrugged, drawing Dina’s attention to her broad shoulders. And maybe it was true. Pretty was a fairly feminine word, and Ellie couldn’t exactly be considered feminine. With her square jaw and muscled arms and hair tied back into a messy bun, she was gorgeous, but perhaps pretty wasn’t the right word.

“Fine. Handsome, then,” Dina said decisively, choosing the best word she knew to describe her girlfriend. 

Ellie promptly tripped over her own feet.

“You ok there?” Dina asked amusedly, holding Ellie’s elbow to steady her.

“Doing great,” Ellie answered.

“You sure?”

“Uh huh.”

Dina let it go, staying quiet for the time being. Ellie, however, seemed to tense up, opening and closing her mouth a few times, flustered and not knowing how to break the silence. Finally, she seemed to figure out what she wanted to say.

“I like it when you call me that.”

“What? Oh, you mean handsome?” Dina guessed. Ellie nodded shyly. “Well then, I’ll have to say it more often.”

“Oh.”

“If you’re comfortable with that, I mean.”

“No, no, I am, I am so comfortable with that, I’m spectacularly comfortable with that,” Ellie stuttered. 

Dina giggled. “Ok then.”

“Just didn’t expect the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen to be calling me handsome.”

“I’m the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen?” Dina asked coyly.

“Yeah, no contest,” Ellie answered. “You’re like, a goddess. Most gorgeous person ever.”

“No contest, huh? I feel like there are some contenders.”

“Oh please, like who?”

“What about Kat?” Dina suggested. Perhaps a little meanly, but it was too late to take it back now.

“Kat? Nah, she’s got nothing on you. Besides, she’s not exactly pretty either. More like me,” Ellie responded. “You know, a little too much for that.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Is that what you like, then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you dated Kat, right? So, is that your type or something? Girls who aren’t quite pretty?” Dina shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably.

“Not really, I just kind of like girls regardless of what they look like, I don’t really have a thing for any particular- wait a minute. Are you worried that you’re not my type?” Ellie asked incredulously.

“No! Well, not really. Maybe?”

“Well, you don’t need to be. If I had a type, Dina, it would be you.”

Dina smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, of course. Plus, I like people who like me. I can always be sure they have good taste,” Ellie said, eyes sparkling with humor.

“Liking you is a mark of poor eyesight, not good taste.”

“You just called me handsome!”

“You know I was just trying to get in your pants!”

“And you know you can do that whenever you want to, you don’t need to seduce me!”

Dina paused. “Whenever I want to?”

“Well, I mean-“

“Take me fucking home, Ellie.”

——————————————————————————————

5\. 

Winter was always a difficult time.

The gardens were no longer a viable food source, and it was harder and harder to scavenge food from nearby places, as clickers didn’t seem as averse to the cold as people were. Unfortunately, this combination meant Dina spent most of her days at least a little bit worried.

Ellie was one of the best hunters in the compound, and she got sent out on almost every trip.

It was hardly a well-known fact, but Ellie hated hunting in winter. And going on patrols. And just generally going outside. Ellie just hated winter in general, and Dina hated that she knew why but couldn’t really help.

So she resigned herself to being there when Ellie got home, helping her take off her heavy winter coat and handing her a cup of something warm, tea or sometimes hot chocolate if she could manage to get her hands on it. She would bring blankets to the couch in case Ellie wanted a nap- she hated getting in bed if she still felt gross from being outside- and she would wait, keeping an eye on the weather and hoping that blizzards would never be an issue again.

Hoping never did much.

But when a blizzard actually did hit Jackson, Dina was at least glad that Ellie was in the house with her and Joel, not scheduled to go out any time soon.

“Tommy said it’d be a bit before we send anyone back out, can barely get up and down the streets in this anyway,” Joel said, walking into the living room with three mugs of tea. He handed one to Ellie, who gratefully accepted it and huddled closer to Dina, who was sat beside her on the couch. Dina wrapped an arm around her before taking her mug from Joel’s hands.

“That’s good. It’d be pretty stupid to send anyone out in weather like this,” Dina replied when it became obvious that Ellie wasn’t going to.

“Mhm. I’m a bit worried about the livestock. I know they’re safe in the stables, but we don’t know how long this is gonna carry on.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. They’ve managed before in weather pretty similar to this, they’re gonna be able to handle it.”

“I ‘spose so.”

The two let the meager conversation dwindle, sipping at their tea in silence. Dina wondered if Ellie realized that she and Joel weren’t discussing livestock.

Another odd consequence of the Bottle Incident was the Dina and Joel Alliance for the Protection of Ellie. Or at least, that was what Dina was calling it. Actually, she called it DJAPE, but that was mostly just to annoy Joel.

Dina had started noticing things now, things that were likely because of Ellie’s past. She didn’t ask about them, couldn’t figure out how to. But they became more obvious over time, as she learned more about her girlfriend. 

For example, when Dina straddled Ellie, sometimes Ellie’s breath would get quicker. Her hands would tremble before coming to rest on Dina’s thighs, her eyes would darken with lust, she would lean up and kiss Dina like she was drowning and Dina was the only source of oxygen for miles, full of desperation and joy.

But sometimes Ellie’s eyes would cloud over. She’d move her hands, reaching somewhere near her head for something that wasn’t there. She’d whimper and struggle until Dina moved, cupping her face gently and reminding her of where she was. And then she would apologize over and over again while Dina held her, trying to say that it was ok.

And sometimes, when Dina decided to sleep in Ellie’s room, warm and content, she would drift off only to wake up to Ellie thrashing beside her, whining in her sleep, even crying occasionally. Those times were harder. Holding Ellie until she could pull herself together didn’t quite work during those times. Often, Dina would go and get Joel, watching as Ellie sank into his arms and sobbed against his chest until the sun came up.

It was never easy, watching her girlfriend in pain like that. And knowing that she couldn’t do anything to fix it was almost crippling.

So Dina turned to Joel for help. It was odd, to talk to him without Ellie around. She didn’t know him very well, and it was sort of difficult to figure out where his head was at during any particular moment. 

He always had Ellie’s best interests at heart though, and that was exactly what Dina needed.

The pair worked in tandem now. Not to shield Ellie, she was more than capable of handling herself. It was more like helping her. Assisting her on the road to recovery, as Joel had put it. Dina had promptly teased him, saying she didn’t realize he knew three-syllable words, but secretly she thought it was a good way to think of it. Ellie shouldn’t have to get over everything that happened to her on her own. She deserved some help from the people who loved her. 

However, there were only so many excuses to talk to Joel without Ellie being there. After one too many jokes about seducing Ellie’s dad (that had earned her a great many pillows to the face), Dina brought up the idea of a code to Joel.

“You want to talk about Ellie in front of her? She’ll catch on pretty damn quick,” Joel had argued.

“Joel. I love your daughter, but do you honestly think that’s likely?”

“She’s clever, quicker than most people give her credit for.”

“That’s true. You know what else is true? I flirted with her for four months and I still had to kiss her in front of everyone to get her to notice. Even then, she thought I was just trying to make Jesse jealous. I don’t think she realized I actually meant it until our third date.”

Joel paused. “So what kind of code were you thinking of?”

And so they had decided on livestock, with the stables or barn meaning home. Dina had originally protested at comparing Ellie to cows and pigs, but the lack of a better suggestion meant they were stuck with it.

It seemed to be working out alright so far.

Ellie shifted against Dina, bringing her out of her mind and into the present. “It’s fucking cold in here.”

“Yeah, just a bit,” Dina teased. “You want me to go get a blanket?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“You don’t want me to move.”

“Not at all,” Ellie said, burrowing further into Dina’s side, laying her head on her shoulder. 

“Ok.” Dina settled into the couch, getting comfortable. “Then I guess I’m stuck.”

“Mhm. Joel, can you get us some blankets?”

“What am I, your butler?” Joel groused as he got up and went to rifle through the closets.

“I don’t even know what that is!” Ellie called after him. She snickered when he just grunted in response. Dina smiled at the familiar interaction, in which Joel pretended he wouldn’t do anything for Ellie and Ellie pretended that he was a nuisance instead of her father.

They were the oddest pair Dina had ever known, but she couldn’t deny that they were also the best.

“Hey,” Ellie said quietly, nudging Dina. “I can hear you thinking from here.”

“How would you know what thinking sounds like, you’ve never done it,” Dina replied.

“Ha ha. You’re a riot. Really, what were you thinking about?”

“You.”

Ellie blushed, looking down towards the ground. “Yeah, right. Sure.”

“I was.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Because you’re a really great thing to think about?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ellie, do you have any idea how amazing you are? Why wouldn’t I be thinking about you?” Dina laughed at the end of her sentence. Really, was it so hard to understand? There wasn’t a second of the day when she wasn’t thinking of Ellie at least a little bit.

“Says the goddess walking among us mere mortals,” Ellie shot back.

“Oh, I’m a goddess now?”

“I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?”

“Absolutely. My divine commandment is…” Dina paused, thinking for a moment, ignoring Ellie’s protests that she didn’t get a commandment. “My divine commandment is that I get a kiss.” 

“Oh. Well, that I can do.” Ellie lifted her head from Dina’s shoulder and gently brought her lips to Dina’s cheek.

“No, a real kiss,” Dina whined. Ellie grinned.

“You’re very needy for a goddess.”

“You’re very defiant for a mortal.”

“Ooh, look at that, Her Divinity has deigned to speak to me.”

“Ellieee!” Dina pouted. “Please just kiss me?”

“Well, who am I to deny a goddess?”

Ellie leaned in and kissed Dina again, for real this time. Dina smiled before deepening the kiss, running her tongue along the seam of Ellie’s lips, delighting in the small whimper Ellie gave in response. She gently took Ellie’s bottom lip in between her teeth, biting down ever so slightly.

That earned her a bit more than a small whimper.

“Dina, if you could please extract your tongue from my daughter’s throat, it’d be much appreciated.” Joel announced his reappearance by throwing a blanket at the two girls.

“Sorry, sir. She’s just so irresistible,” Dina teased, laughing to herself when Ellie went bright red and held the blanket up to cover her face. 

It was much later in the night- or possibly very early in the morning- when the snow stopped. Dina was still on the couch with Ellie, who had fallen asleep against her. She hadn’t wanted to move for fear of waking her girlfriend up, so she had simply stayed put. Joel had gone off to bed at some point, and so Dina sat, staring out through the window and slowly drifting off.

At least, she was until Ellie began to mutter something under her breath.

Dina forced herself to sit up, blinking into awareness. “Ellie, baby, you ok?” Ellie didn’t reply, but Dina could see her eyes shut tightly and the furrow in her brow, distress evident in her face. “Ellie, sweetheart, wake up. You’re having a nightmare, you need to wake up.”

Ellie began to shake, swearing in her sleep and clutching her arm.

Worse than a David nightmare, then.

A Riley one.

“Joel!” Dina shouted hoarsely, voice thick with sleep. “Joel, could use some help here!”

The man in question crashed through the hallway and into the living room, brandishing a pistol and barely avoiding tripping over the pants he had barely pulled on. “What? What is it, where’s the- oh, Ellie.” He exhaled upon seeing the girl struggling in Dina’s arms.

Joel rushed to kneel beside the couch, taking one of Ellie’s hands in his. The commotion hadn’t truly woken her, but she was getting close, becoming more alert. “Hey, Ellie, it’s ok. You’re safe here, you’re safe. Dina and I are right here, babygirl. You’re safe.”

Ellie whimpered, burying her head against Dina’s stomach. Dina could feel tears start to soak through her shirt. 

“Ellie, baby. You’re not there, ok? You’re here with me and Joel and we need you to wake up.” Dina gently shook Ellie’s shoulders. “Please, Ellie, can you do that for us?”

And somehow, either through an incredible moment of luck or sheer will to not disappoint anyone she loved, Ellie woke up. 

She promptly started crying.

“Oh, Ellie,” Dina whispered, holding her close. Ellie’s hand that wasn’t clutched in Joel’s came up to grasp at Dina’s arm.

“C’mon, Ellie, let’s get you upright,” Joel said. With Dina’s help, he managed to tug Ellie into a sitting position, although she immediately curled into herself. “Tell your old man what happened.”

Ellie nodded, but couldn’t seem to get any words out. Suddenly, she looked more than just distraught. She looked exhausted, tired down to her very bones.

Dina couldn’t bear it.

“I’m going to make us some tea, yeah? I’ll be back in just a minute.” She squeezed Ellie’s hand before hopping off the couch, hurriedly wiping at her own eyes as she walked into the kitchen.

She stumbled around the kitchen, occasionally grabbing the counter to keep her balance. Her legs had fallen asleep just as she had, and even if they were working perfectly, Dina’s mind was going into overdrive and she didn’t think she had any brainpower to spare for walking. 

She had finally gotten the water boiling, pretending she couldn’t hear the hushed conversation in the other room, when Joel walked in. “Only two cups of tea.”

“You don’t want any?” Dina asked. 

“’S not that. Ellie fell back asleep.”

“So quickly?”

“She was exhausted,” Joel sighed, rubbing at his eyes as he dropped into a chair at the table. “Miracle I managed to keep her up long enough to talk about it.”

“Oh.”

Dina poured water into two mugs in silence, adding the tea bags carefully. She brought them to the table. The pair sat in silence for the few minutes it took for the tea to steep. 

“Is she ok?” Dina asked finally, sipping her tea. She held back a grimace as it scalded her tongue.

“Yeah, I reckon she’ll be just fine. Time heals all wounds and whatnot.”

“It hasn’t healed that bite.” And not that loss, either, Dina thought to herself.

“Well, maybe not. But it gets easier. Especially if you find people who help you,” Joel said, shooting a significant look at Dina.

“I, er. I don’t know what you-“

“You help her, Dina. In ways that I wouldn’t even begin to know how to. I can teach her to survive and to keep fighting and how to take down a dozen Infected with six bullets, but I can’t teach her what you can. You’ve helped her start to believe in hope again.”

“Wow. Uh, thank you.”

“Don’t ever mention it again.”

“What, that you’re a secret softie? I don’t know, I think the whole town should be informed of this vital information-“

“This is reminding me of why I didn’t like you at first.”

“But I’m so likable. I walk down the street and hear people just singing my praises!“

“Go to bed, Dina,” Joel grumbled, getting up and walking out of the room, leaving Dina to giggle behind him.

——————————————————————————————

+1.

Ellie wasn’t a moron.

Well, ok, she would acknowledge that she could be a bit oblivious, but she wasn’t a moron. 

She knew about Joel and Dina’s code.

She knew that Dina was suspicious of Kat.

She knew that if Dina could travel back in time, she would kill David over and over and over again.

She knew that Dina had a bit of a jealous streak.

And Ellie really didn’t mind.

The way she saw it, it was actually kind of sweet. She understood the desire to protect the people that you love, and the fact that she was included in that for Dina made her too happy to be upset about the code or any of Dina’s slightly possessive behaviors.

Although, she didn’t quite understand them. The code thing with Joel, fine, but the way Dina was always trying to scare off other girls? It would make sense if they were actually flirting with Ellie, but they weren’t. 

Why would they be?

It wasn’t as though she didn’t believe people could be interested, it’s just that the interest was more than likely negative. 

When it was revealed to the community that she was immune? Plenty of negative interest.

When she came out? Semi-negative interest. 

When she started dating Dina? Most people were too afraid of her to give her shit at that point, but she heard whispers about ‘corrupting the innocent’ and ‘infection in more than one way’.

Ellie had to give them points for creativity for the second one.

But it was easy to ignore all thatwhen Dina was smiling up at her or playing with her hair or pulling her in for a kiss. So Ellie always managed to tune out the whispers and focus on the girl in her arms.

At least, she usually did.

But lately, things had gotten odd. Well, not odd. Odd wasn’t the right word. Ellie was very careful about words. She had gotten her hands on a dictionary on one of her scavenging trips, and it had been one of her favorite possessions ever since. There were certain words that fit certain feelings and objects and situations, and odd didn’t quite fit here.

Perhaps concerning was a better choice.

The whispers were growing louder, into mumblings and outright muttering. And for the life of her, Ellie couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like she and Dina were particularly affectionate in public, and as far as she knew, there was no reason to be worried. But somehow, certain people in Jackson seemed wary of her, and she didn’t get it.

Ellie wondered which of her crimes they had found out about, wondered if all of the blood on her hands had finally become as visible to them as it was to her.

She wondered if Dina saw it, too.

Judging by Dina’s grin as she walked through Ellie’s front door, she guessed not.

“Hey Freckles, how is it that you somehow smell worse after showering?” Dina teased as she wrapped her arms around Ellie, burying her face in the taller girl’s neck.

“I think that’s you, actually,” Ellie replied as she returned the embrace.

“Keep insulting me, see if I kiss you at all tonight.”

“Like you could hold out for that long.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Absolutely not,” Ellie laughed. “Now c’mon, take off your coat and get in here, I’m making rabbit stew and I don’t want it to burn.”

“How do you even burn stew?” Dina asked as they walked into the kitchen.

“Joel managed it before.”

“You’d think he’d be more self-sufficient, being a grown man and a father.”

“You’d think he had more than two brain cells, but he’s always managed to defy expectations.”

“Don’t be mean.” Dina playfully swatted at Ellie’s shoulder. Ellie only grinned in response, completely in love with the way her girlfriend looked as she tried to hold back her giggles.

Ellie was completely in love with a lot of things about Dina, actually.

Joel wasn’t home yet, so he couldn’t defend himself against Ellie’s mocking. He was at some town meeting, no doubt bored out of his mind. Ellie knew him enough to know that he would go if he was expected, but would hate every minute of it. He was also trying to convince Ellie that being involved in Jackson’s affairs was a good thing, and had apparently decided that leading by example was the best way to get his point across. 

Ellie was comforted by the idea of him regretting this notion.

“Hey, you’re quiet. What’s up with that?” Dina poked Ellie’s side as she laid some bowls out on the counter.

“Hm? Oh, just thinking about the old man, wondering if he’s keeled over from a heart attack. At his age, you know, gotta start worrying ‘bout those sorts of things.”

“Ha ha, dipshit. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s nothing.” Ellie began to pour the stew out into the bowls, carefully trying to avoid a spill. And maybe using it as an excuse to avoid looking her girlfriend in the eyes.

“Somehow I don’t believe you.”

“Callin’ me a liar?”

“Just this once, maybe.”

“Seems unfair.”

“Seems accurate,” Dina answered impatiently. “Ellie, please tell me what’s wrong. You look upset.”

“What? Oh, no, Dina, I’m not upset. Just… pensive.”

“Big word for such a small brain.”

“You gonna mock me while I’m trying to be honest here?” Ellie responded. “Really, I’m fine. Just wondering about some stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“Some things.”

“I swear I’ll kill you if you give me one more vague answer.”

“Promise?”

Dina hit Ellie’s shoulder again. “Would you please just tell me what’s going on?”

Ellie inhaled, about to test her luck with one more denial, but in some strange twist of fate, whatever god may exist actually liked her. Or at least, she inferred this from the way Joel crashed through the door to interrupt.

“Jackasses telling me how to raise my kid… never survived a day out there, think being all uptight and pretentious gives them the fucking right,” Joel grumbled as she took off his boots and coat, striding angrily through the hall and into the kitchen.

“Where’s the fire, old man?” Ellie joked, catching Dina’s look of concern out of the corner of her eye.

“Well, not in here. Didn’t burn the place down tryin’ to cook?”

“You taught me all you knew, but I haven’t taught you everything I know.”

“Smart-ass.” Joel grabbed his bowl of stew from the counter, eating about four spoonfuls before Ellie could even process it.

“What’s up with you?” Dina asked, attempting to hide her concern. Ellie wanted to tell her to leave it, that pushing Joel rarely accomplished anything, but Dina clearly wasn’t getting the message.

“Nothin’.”

“Your whole southern drawl thing is very prominent.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“That only happens when you’re pissed. So what happened?”

“How the hell do you know that?” Joel glared at Dina.

“Ellie picked it up from you,” she answered. “And if you both keep denying that something’s wrong, I’ll be kicked out of Jackson for double homicide instead of just plain homicide.”

“What’re you hiding?” Joel turned to Ellie.

“Absolutely nothing. Dina’s just being pushy.”

“Sounds normal.”

“She’s actually quite lovely, usually. I’m counting this as an outlier.”

“And I’m right here!” Dina interrupted. “Both of you, fess up now. Or I’ll throw all your guns in the creek and make you ask Jesse to fish them out for you.”

“She drives a hard bargain,” Joel remarked.

“You’ve got no idea,” Ellie responded. “Those most likely to die first have to confess first. So it’s your turn, old man.”

“Since when is that the rule?”

“Since I decided so. What’s up?”

Joel sighed. “Just some jackasses at the stupid fucking town hall. Most folks here, they’re alright, but it’s a bit like before the outbreak. Some people are just assholes.”

“What’d they say?” Ellie asked. Dina, having apparently exhausted her threats for the time being, simply listened.

“Some dumb crap about ‘certain members of the community’ and ‘irresponsible behaviors encouraged by irresponsible parenting’, total bullshit.”

“They side-eyed you enough to make the message clear, huh?” Dina finally spoke.

“Mhm. Listed out the irresponsible behavior, too.”

“Behaviors presumably performed by me?” Ellie guessed. When Joel nodded, she grinned half-heartedly. “Let’s hear em then. I’d love to know how I’m tearing the community apart.”

“Well, there’s the whole infection bit again. Something about you over-estimating yourself on patrols, which I know you’re not doing because you’re not stupid enough to risk that.”

“Of course not.” Ellie lied through her teeth. Joel smiled, very aware of the false reassurance.

“The typical ‘she may be immune but she may also be contagious’-“

“You’d think they didn’t know how infection worked,” Dina interjected.

“-and, uh. That’s it.” Joel abruptly stopped, returning to eating his stew.

“That’s it?” Ellie asked, watching as Joel shifted uncomfortably.

“Mhm. Nothin’ else to criticize, I suppose.”

“Joel.”

“Ellie.”

“Why are you lying?”

Joel hesitated, putting his bowl down. “Why do you think I’m lying?”

“Because I know you. What else did they say?”

“It was nothing, Ellie-“

“Then why won’t you tell me?” Ellie prodded. “If it was nothing, then I won’t care.”

“It was stupid.”

“Well, I believe that-“

“Hey, I’m trying to do you a favor here-“

“Hey, morons!” Dina shouted over their loud squabbling. “Let’s settle down, ok? Joel, would you just tell Ellie what they said.”

“No,” Joel grunted. “She doesn’t need to worry about it, and neither do you.”

“It involves me?” Dina’s voice gave away her surprise. Ellie tried really hard to not let her face reflect her own emotions, but she was sure she was failing. 

No one got to talk about Dina badly. No one.

“Joel. If it involved Dina, then you tell us. No arguments.” Ellie’s tone certainly didn’t leave room for any.

“Ok, alright, fine. But you gotta remember, this is just a few assholes, ok? This isn’t Jackson at large, and almost everyone was mad at these dipshits for saying this, so you don’t have to worry about anyone. The good people are on your side, almost everyone’s on your side-“

“Joel!”

“They’re saying that you seduced Dina, ok? That you pulled her away from Jesse and a healthy relationship and… turned her, somehow, made her want you instead of a guy. They kept spouting some bullshit about you turning half the girls in Jackson, called you a fucking disease. Some stupid, fucked up stuff about you being predatory, like you were tricking them into turning gay. I almost shot one of them and I actually did manage to get a few good hits on another, so. Yeah.”

Ellie stared. Processed. Thought it out.

She came to the conclusion that perhaps she should sit down.

“So. They think I, uh. They think I’m like. Convincing girls to be gay?” She dropped into the chair next to Dina. The girl immediately took her hand, holding it gently.

“I reckon that’s what they think. Which is stupid.”

“They think I’m some kind of predator?” Ellie tried so hard to keep the pain out of her voice, tried so hard to keep it from showing in the form of tears in her eyes. By her clear vision, she could tell she succeeded at the second goal. By the look Joel was giving her, she knew she had failed at the first.

“They’re morons.”

“Yeah. Morons,” Ellie repeated weakly. “Explains the whispers, at least.”

“Whispers? What whispers?” Joel asked, sitting in his own chair beside her. Ellie pretended not to notice as he shared a significant look with Dina.

“Nothing, I could just… tell people were talking about me more than usual, that’s all.”

“People talk about you?” Dina asked. Her voice was quiet and sounded carefully controlled.

Ellie wondered what emotion she was trying to hide. Sadness, anger? Regret? For agreeing to be Ellie’s girlfriend, for breaking up with Jesse, for ever kissing Elie in the first place?

Suddenly Ellie really didn’t want to know what emotion Dina was hiding. Not if the answer was what she expected.

“Yeah, sometimes,” Ellie answered the question. “Just regular town gossip stuff, usually. But sometimes, if something happens- They get louder. Not so much whispers, more muttering and the occasional glare.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Joel asked gruffly. That tended to be Joel-speak for ‘why didn’t you let me protect you’, so Ellie responded as she would have to that.

“Didn’t want you to go crazy and get everyone freaked out. It’s not really much of an issue.”

Joel just blinked at Ellie, looking at her in disbelief. Feeling stupid, Ellie turned away to see Dina’s reaction.

She was surprised to see Dina nod, take her hand out of Ellie’s, and stand up and walk to the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Ellie called after her.

“Oh, nowhere. Just gonna visit a few people.”

“Dina?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in time for dessert. If you hear screaming, just ignore it.”

Ellie got up, catching her girlfriend just before she could get out the door. “No murder for you.”

“And why not?”

“Because we’ve got a good thing going in this town and I’d rather not be an outlaw with you?”

“I think we’d make a good Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Yeah, well, sue me, but I kind of enjoy the stability here. Why are you going a murder spree anyway?” Ellie questioned. 

She thought that if she felt stupid from how Joel had looked at her, she should feel absolutely idiotic from the stare Dina was giving her now.

“Are you serious? Do you actually not get it, Freckles?” Despite the harsh words, Dina’s tone was soft.

“Um, no? So a few people talk about me, who cares-“

“You care!” Dina interrupted loudly. “I see the way that it hurts you. I see how you carry yourself around other people, the way that you try to melt into the background. I see how strong you are, and how quick you are to hide it for fear that they’ll misinterpret it. I see the way that you go out of your way to make sure girls are comfortable around you because you’d never want to creep them out or be predatory. Goddamnit, Ellie, I see you! I see you, and I love you, and I’m fucking pissed that other people could see you and want to hurt you!”

Ellie just stared as Dina finished her impassioned speech. 

“Wow. Did you maybe want a megaphone, or a stage to stand on to deliver that-“

“Fuck off,” Dina groaned.

“No, really. I appreciated it, Dina, I did. And I’m. I’m glad that you care about me enough to defend me. Thanks for that.”

“Ellie. Are you thanking me for loving you?”

It was Ellie’s turn to groan. “Shut up.”

“I mean, you really should be grateful, but I thought I’d at least pretend you deserved me-“

“I know I don’t,” Ellie cut in earnestly.

Dina broke character, visibly softening as she looked Ellie, making her blush. “Other way around, Ellie. It’s the other way around.”

Ellie looked down at the floor, unable to stop the goofy smile that Dina’s words had caused. When she looked up, Dina had stepped closer, looking into her eyes with more affection than Ellie thought she could handle.

So, she opted to close her own eyes and lean forward, catching Dina’s lips in a slow and gentle kiss.

It wasn’t until Joel dropped a dish in the kitchen that they broke apart, both grinning as Dina tried to wipe her chapstick from Ellie’s lips.

“So. You’ve always had this whole protective thing going on, huh?” Ellie asked.

“Kind of? I just really don’t like people trying to hurt you, or take advantage of how nice you are.”

“Mhm. And you don’t like it when you think girls are flirting with me.”

“What? I don’t- I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dina stuttered. “I think you’re imagining things.”

“Oh, I imagined the way you got pissed at that nurse?”

“Nurse? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dina looked away.

“And that group of girls, that one time by the shooting range?”

“Wow, someone thinks she’s popular.”

“And with Kat?” Ellie continued, smirking to herself as Dina realized she had been caught.

“Ok, so maybe I’ve got a protective thing. But it’s not jealousy, ok? I trust you completely, it’s not about that. It’s just that you don’t even realize when people are flirting with you, and so they keep going and I know you get uncomfortable with it when you finally realize what’s happening, and I just didn’t want to let them make you-“

“Dina, would you like to maybe take a breath?”

“Fuck off.”

“Nope, sorry. I caught you and will proceed to mock you without mercy.”

“Remember that time Joel found you-“

“We don’t bring that up!” Ellie yelped. “We agreed not to bring that up, ever!”

“Great. This is now part of that agreement. We’re never discussing this either.”

“Lame,” Ellie grumbled. Dina laughed, making Ellie smile back. The image of Dina laughing was just too wonderful to pretend to be grumpy anymore. The way she tossed her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, the way they sparkled when she opened them again. It was enchanting, Ellie thought.

“Can I at least say one thing?” Ellie asked. “Just one thing about this whole protective streak, and then we can ignore it?”

“I suppose so.”

“Thank you.”

“Sure. So what is it?” Dina asked.

“That was it.”

“What? Thanking me?”

“Uh, yeah. Kinda,” Ellie rubbed at the back of her neck. “I mean, the fact that you know me and know what makes me uncomfortable and want to help? It’s just… nice, you know? It’s sweet. So thanks.”

“Oh, Ellie. You never have to thank me for that.”

Dina hesitated as she leaned in, a question in her eyes. Ellie answered it by closing the distance between them.

“Hey, dumbasses! Food’s gettin’ cold!”

Ellie pulled away, turning to shout down the hallway. “Shut up, old man, we’re trying to have a moment!”

“Have your moment after you eat dinner!”

Ellie scoffed, turning back to Dina. “Hungry?”

“Lead the way,” Dina smiled.

Any whispers about them were drowned out in their laughter that night. 

And after Dina refused to let go of her hand the next day, tugging her along the streets and kissing her at any opportunity?

Ellie decided that the whispers didn’t matter very much at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, thanks for reading this! It's my first time writing for Ellie/Dina and The Last of Us in general, so I hope it was ok. Leave a comment if you liked it or if you have constructive criticism! I'll probably write more for this fandom, so you can expect some loosely connected one-shots (hopefully shorter than this one). Thanks again for reading and have a great day/night!


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